Mail-bag catcher



(No Model.) 2 .Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. B. WINSOR & G. W. GUMMINGS. MAIL BAG GATGHBR.

No.447,o94. PatentedFeb.24,1891p lNvENToHs. f ff' d MSW Wi ATTUHNEYJ (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

C. B. WINSOR 8v G-.`W. CUMMINGS. MAIL BAG CATCHER.

No. 447,094.A Patented Feb. 24,1891.

UNITED STATES ATnNT Ordnen.'

CLINTON B. lVlNSOR AND GEORGE XV. OUMMINGS, OF JMESTOlVN, NEYV YORK.

iVlAlL- BAG CATCH ER.

spscrrrca'rron forming part of Letters Patent 110.447,094, dated February 24, 1891.

Application filed June 26, 1890.

To (all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, CLINTON B. WINsoR and GEORGE XV. OUMMINGS, of Jamestown, in the county of Chautauqua, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to apparatuses for catching mail-bags when thrown from a train in motion.

Our object is to produce an apparatus to catch and hold a mail-bag, keeping it off from the ground, and preventing the inj uryof people at a railroad station by being struck by a iiying bag thrown from a train in rapid motion, as well also to protect the bags and save them from the wear and scratching and tearing by the planking, earth, and stones, such apparatus comprisin g a netting mounted upon a frame, the sides of which are adapted to' be swung backward and inward by the colla-psing of the netting, converting the netting into a bag.

Our invention consists in the several novel features ot construction hereinafter described, and which are specifically set' forth in the claims hereto annexed.

It is constructed as follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus set up ready for use. Fig. 2 is a horizontal transverse section. Fig. 3 is a top plan of the netting collapsed to form a bag holding a mail-pouch, the top bars of the frame and main support being removed. Fig. at is a detail of the arm and ring carrying the upper end of the mail-pouch which is to be caught up by the catcher on the car. Fig. 5 is a like view of the ring and spring-j aw holding the lower end. Fig. 6 shows a top plan and a side elevation of the devices used to connect the edge of the netting to the side bars of the frame. Fig. 7 shows a top plan and side elevation of the blank for the fastening used at the intersection of the ropes of the netting. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the same bent around intersecting ropes. Fig. 9

Serial No. 356,759. (No model.)

is a plan of a piece of the netting, showing the connections.

A is the supporting-frame, comprising a standard 1, lower arm 2, and upper arm 3, with i loosely through the inner ends of the bars S,

regulate the tension of each spring against said bars. Vertical standards 9 are pivotally mounted in the outer ends of the bars 8. Adjacent to the lower ends of, the standards we secure horizontal rods 10, the inner ends of which are pivotally connected by a link 11. The netting 12 is connectedat the sides to the standards by the rings 13, fitting loosely over them, and by the eye-hooks 1l, tied to the netting and hooking into the rings. Shoulders or collars 15 on the standards near each end hold the netting distended vertically, and the lower end of the net is secured to the rods 10 and link 11, so as to form a bag, as hereinafter described. Upon the upper arm near its outer end we hinge the bar 1G, provided on its outer end with a swinging rod 17, and upon the outer end of the lower arm we hinge the bar 18, provided on its outer end with an eye in which one end of the chain 19 is fastened, the other end being provided with a springjaw 20.

B is a mail-pouch provided at each end with a ring 21, one of which iits over the rod 17, and the other engages with the spring-jaw when the chain and lower arm are raised, as shown in Fig. 1.

lVhen the apparatus is set up, as shown in Fig. 1, the net is distended, say, six feet square, and then, as the train approaches, the mail clerk throws the pouch to be dropped against the net, and then the momentum causes the net to collapse or double up, drawing the sides of the frame backward and inward and creating a bag in the net, as shown in Fig. 3, in which the pouch lies until removed.

1t will be seen that this pouch-catcher can be operated from either side, and that a pouchbag can be caught by the train at the same time another is thrown off.

To secure the intersection of the ropes or I cords of the net, we employ a fastening consisting of a blank of substantially the form shown in Fig. '7 and provided with the point and the pointed spurs 3 on both sides, and when two opposite points are folded over one rope embedding the spur into it and the other two points are folded overthe other rope, foroing that spur into the rope, and then both ropes are held firmly against slipping.

Vhat we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A mail-pouch catcher comprising a net, a frame upon which it is distended, consisting' of sectional top and bottom bars secured upon vertical sides pivotally mounted in the lower frame-bars, and means for supporting the frame.

2. A mail-pouch catcher Comprising a not,

a supporting-frame Consisting,` of sectional top and bottom bars secured upon vertical sides pvotally mounted in the lower framebars, friction-springs bearing against the upper and lower frame-bars, and means forsupporting the frame.

3. A mail-pouch catcher comprising a net, a supporting-frame Consisting of sectional top and bottom bars secured upon vertical sides pivotally mounted in the lower framebars, springs bearing frietionally against the upper and lower frame-bars, circles mounted above and below and in engagement with the upper and lower frame-bars, respectively, and means for supporting the frame.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this 10th day of June, 1890.

CLINTON B. VINSOR. GEORGE V. CUMMINGS. Witnesses:

HOWARD P. DENIsoN, E. V. MACK. 

